The thin red lines
by BelleLee
Summary: There's a new serial killer in town, Jane and Lisbon are captured and Lisbon is left to deal with the fallout. First Fanfic sorry if the summary's bad I haven't quite gotten the hang of them yet.
1. Chapter 1

My first Fanfic so I would appreciate any comments / criticisms. And now for the standard disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist or any of it's characters, Bruno Heller and CBS do which is a good thing for the show but a bad thing for my bank account

"Your almost there." Come on , big breath and push!"

"Agghhhh"

"Good, good push" offers the doctor encouragingly.

"I can see the head!" the tall red head at the side of the laboring woman head says excitedly.

A groan and a breathlessly sarcastic "'bout time!" is the only response she gets from the petite brunette laying in the hospital bed.

"Just one more big push and you'll get to hold your baby" the nurse on her right side adds.

Panting, Teresa Lisbon gathers her strength.

Looking into the misty eyes of her subordinate and friend, Grace Van Pelt, she pushes with everything she has left.

Her painful cry is cut through by the high pitched wail of a new born.

"You have a handsome baby boy" the doctor announces as he prepares to cut the umbilical cord.

The new mother gives a sob of relief and briefly buries her face in her hands.

"So do you have a name picked yet?" the nurse asks as she hands the now warmly bundled baby to his mother.

"Aiden" Lisbon replies.

"What about a middle name?" Van Pelt asks.

"Jane" replies her dazed sounding boss, "after his father."

Grace's shocked look goes ignored by Lisbon who is too busy counting her son's perfect little fingers to notice.

The question Grace is about to ask is interrupted by another nurse saying they will need to take little Aiden for some routine tests and his first bath.

Lisbon finally looks up, and seeing the look on her friends face realizes that due to exaustion and the excitement of the moment she's let slip more than she intended.

"Can you go with him? Please?" and seeing Van Pelt's hitched eyebrow adds "I promise when you come back I'll explain everything." " And take lots of pictures!" she commands as Grace follows the nurses out the door to her room.

As soon as she loses sight of the little wheeled bassinet and the baby in it, she collapses back on her bed, like a marrionet who's string have been cut, and asks "Oh god. What do I do now?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Once again thanks for reading. This chapter has some friendly Lisbon / Van Pelt moments. Van Pelts dialog will be in a different font to make for easier reading.**

"So where should I start?" Teresa Lisbon asks about an hour later, a slightly sarcastic tone to her voice.

"_How about you start at the part where you and Jane made a baby__?" _Van Pelt replies smartly.

Lisbon smirks at her friends' sarcasm privately wondering if she has been rubbing off on the rookie.

"_Well_ _I'm guessing this", _Van Pelt says gesturing at the little boy contentedly suckling at his Lisbon's breast, _"happened during the Adams case." _

"What are you some sort of detective?" retorted Lisbon.

"_Well you know I can count to nine Boss, besides you've been, well… different, you know, with Jane, since the case." "At first I thought it was just you was of coping with what you had been through, but I kept getting this feeling that it was more than that." _Van Pelt chuckled "_actually when you told use you were pregnant Rigsby and I kept waiting for you to announce that it was Jane's." If he hadn't looked as shocked as the rest of us I pretty sure Rigsby would gave congratulated him too!"_

Seeing the slightly bitter twist to Lisbon's mouth Van Pelt blushed as bright as her red hair and stuttered "_s sorry boss."_

"'S okay," said Lisbon "and I told you it's Teresa, at least until I get back from my maternity leave."

Grace smiled, understanding she had been forgiven, and watched her friend carefully. Lisbon seemed to have momentarily lost herself in the contemplation of her son. The little cherub, having finally eaten his fill, let go of his mother's breast, and gave a sleepy yawn. "_Cherub is right_," Grace thought, from the downy hair on his head, so blond it looked white, to his round pink cheeks and the milky fair complexion he had obviously inherited from his mother. The child looked like one of the baby angels depicted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. His eyes however where not the crystalline blue you would have expected them to be, they were instead a startling shade of deep jade green. "_God help all women if he inherited his father's charm_" Van Pelt thought to herself _"he's gonna be a lady killer."_

With a small smile and a faint shake of her head Lisbon snaps out of her reverie and putting Aiden over her shoulder for his post dinner burp, says "now where was I?"

"_You were about to explain the secret relationship you had with Jane and how it's possible for you to have his child without him knowing about it?" _said Van Pelt, the exaggerated tone of patience in her voice belied by her raised eye brows.

"Well that's easy", says Lisbon, bitter twist back in place, "there was no relationship".

Seeing Grace's, once again, surprised face. Lisbon gives another sigh and gestures to the little bassinet in the corner of the hospital room. She hands her now comfortably sleeping son over to Van Pelt who places him in it for a, hopefully, long nap. Then sits down in the chair next to the bed and stares at the woman in it expectantly.

"Okay!" "Okay!" Says Lisbon, "but before I start I want two things."

"_Whatever I can do to help Bo… uh Teresa" _Says Van Pelt_._

"One I want you to swear that whatever I tell you never leaves this room."

"_Uh, I'm sorry Teresa but doesn't Jane have a right to know he has a child?" _

"Van Pelt, you trust me to watch your back out in the field, well, now I need you to trust that I'm only trying to do what I think is best for my son and for Jane." "Besides I think once you hear what happened you'll agree that it's best that Jane not know." Satisfied by whatever it was that she saw in her friends face, Lisbon continued, and two I need to know how much time I have before the guys get here."

"_Well you weren't due for another what month?"_

"Three weeks and five days." Interrupted Lisbon.

"_Anyway," _said Van Pelt, unfazed_ " Since the little man wasn't expected for an other few weeks they figured they'd be okay driving over to Pine Ridge to help the local leo's look into the dissapearance of that 16 year girl." "__I didn't get a chance to call Cho__ and let him know what was going on until after Aiden and I were on our way back from his bath so they should be here in about an hour and a half?"_

"forty–five minutes if Jane drives" said Teresa with a snort.

"What about the girl?"said Lisbon, her mind, as usual preocupied with work and all things work related.

Van Pelt rolled her eyes and said, "_be prepared for Jane to be as insufferable as ever 'cause he was right." "She had a secret boyfriend she ran off to be with, Cho called campus security at UC Davis and they found her hiding in his dorm room."_

"You know," Lisbon whined "this is gonna sound bitchy but just once I'd like for him to be wrong"

Van Pelt smiled and nodded in agreement then said "_Well it's a good thing Jane's been insisting someone stay behind with you since you've been on desk duty or you would have been stuck alone in the bull pen, in labor."_

"I'm just glad the doctor's okayed my continuing with the labor even though he was early."

Grace laughed, "_he's going to be just as inpatient as his father." "Although at 7 ½ lbs. despite being a month early, I hate to think how bid he would have been if he had been full term."_

"You're telling me" said Lisbon with a grimace. "It was actually his size and the fact that his lungs looked nice and strong that convinced Dr. Andres that that he would be okay." "He was also concerned that the labor would be much more difficult if he got any bigger."

Van Pelt stared at Lisbon and then made a point of checking the time on her wrist watch.

"Yeah, I know, quit stalling." I was just about to explain my relationship, or lack thereof, with Jane and how Aiden is his or as a matter of fact that it's even possible that he could be his."

"_What!" _yelled Grace.

"SHHH, you'll wake the baby!" Lisbon whispered fiercely.

"_Well that explains why Jane practically cornered me once a week since you announced it to try to weasel out information on the baby daddy's identity and why he practically ripped Rigsby's head off when he asked Cho if it was his_," Said Van Pelt.

"Cho! Ewww! And why would Jane care if it was Cho's!"

"_Explain!" _Said Van Pelt unapologetically

"Fine!" "You remember that during the Adams case, right before you guys got us out of that warehouse, Jane got a pretty nasty knock on the head?" "The ER doctors said it might affect his short term memory and that he might not ever be able to remember the hours that he lost."

"_Yeah," _said Van Pelt, remembering how beside herself with worry her boss had been, how unlike her usual unflappable self_. _At the time she had attributed it to what Lisbon and Jane had suffered at the hands of their captor and the fact that she owed her life to him once again. Apparently she had been wrong.

"Well he lost about 12 hrs worth of his memory," said Lisbon, sounding choked her eyes filling with tears at the memory. "It was during that time that we… uhm." I mean that's the only time we've ever uhh.. you know."

"_Oh God boss, I'm sorry but I'm still don't see how it's possible to forget that you conceived a child."_

"Believe me," replied Lisbon, "it's not something I'll ever forget but I need to go back to the beginning so you can understand why Jane can't or won't remember."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey there. Sorry it took me so long to update but the characters don't seem to be cooperating. They keep dancing around each other and it's taking them too long to get to the good stuff. I wanted to do Lisbon and Jane's POV in this chapter but Lisbon's kinda ran on so I'm going to do them as separate chapters but will post them at the same time. Some reviews would help with the creative process and encourage faster posting. I'd even take a flaming at this point ;) **

**The rating on this is currently T (adult themes, suicide) but I'm of the Saw, Hostel, Friday The 13****th**** generation so it kind of takes a lot to faze me. If you guys think this is a bit much I'll up it to M now either way it will definitely go to M for the baby making chapters.**

**You know the drill the show and its characters aren't mine I'm just borrowing them. **

**36 Weeks Earlier**

It was early morning as Teresa Lisbon stepped out of the CBI headquarters elevator and into the serious crimes bullpen. "Not even 7:00 am, to damn early to be at work on a Monday" she thought taking a pull from the coffee she was holding. She strode purposefully towards her office, unable to stop herself from glancing towards the brown leather couch even though she knew her perpetually reclining consultant wouldn't be there. Any other day of the week and Patrick Jane would already be taking up room on the comfortable piece of furniture. Pretending to sleep, an either empty or full and steaming cup of tea resting on the floor next to him, all depending on whether he had spent the night in the bull pen or gone to catch a few hours of sleep in whatever apartment or random hotel room he was called "home". Unless they were on a case, business at the CBI didn't actually start until 9 am, Jane was usually there first no matter how early the workaholic Lisbon came in, followed by the dedicated Grace Van Pelt at 15 minutes to 9:00, second in command Kimball Cho at 9:00 on the dot, and last, Wayne Rigsby doughnut in hand, at around 5 after 9:00. Mondays were the same for everyone else with the exception of Jane, who usually strolled in about 10 minutes after Van Pelt. Lisbon knew it was because he had spent the weekend _there_, at his home by the sea, were his wife and child had been so brutally murdered, and she knew he had to get up ungodly early if he'd slept at all in order to get to Sacramento by the start of work, considering the several hour drive from Malibu. She wondered if he did it to feel closer to them, if it provided a measure of solace, but she suspected that he did it to fuel his rage, to remind himself of what Red John had taken from him.

With a brisk shake of her head Lisbon pulled herself out of her reverie. Looking around she realized that while she had been lost in thoughts of her consultant she had entered her office, put her things away and sat down at her desk. She grimaced, briefly wondering if insomnia was contagious while she turned on her computer. Not that it was surprising that she was having trouble sleeping considering what the last few weeks had brought. "Has it only been six weeks since I last had a decent night's sleep?" she thought. Six weeks since the "Kristina and Red John fiasco" as Lisbon privately refered to it. The first three weeks after the serial killer known as Red John had killed the college kids that had dared impersonate him, rescued Jane from said college kids, murdered a TV producer to teach "psychic" Kristina Frye a lesson and then _maybe_ kidnapped Kristina Frye, had been understandably busy. Jane had that cold and slightly maniacal look he always got after a Red John case, feverishly reading through case files, his intensity magnified tenfold by having come face to face with the killer. This time he had company though. Van Pelt fueled by her guilt at losing Kristina on her watch, whether it was to Red John or Kristina running away in fear, had doubled down, coming in at sunrise and leaving only when she could hardly keep awake anymore. Cho out of loyalty to his boss, unit and a desire to catch the murderer that had hurt his friend and so many others, had locked down his poker face and amped up the dry one liners. Rigsby had been working so hard that he'd forgotten to complain of hunger and had even skipped lunch a few times. Lisbon had picked up Jane's habit of spending a few hours resting on the couch in her office instead of going home to sleep. She blamed herself for not watching Kristina personally, for letting Jane go off half cocked getting himself captured, but most of all she felt the guilt of failing again. Of letting down the families of the people Red John had slaughtered _again, _letting down Mandy Bosco and Jane _again_. All those people without closure or justice, all those lost soul's unable to rest because the animal that killed them had slipped through her fingers _again_. Failed his next victim because she knew there would be more. He had called her cell phone, telling her where Jane was that he was safe and for a second she had felt absurdly grateful to the murderer, before the anger had kicked in. When she had walked into that abandoned building and seen the three young kids dead, the two copy cats killed outright, they're bodies mutilated for Red John amusement and the third, they're unwilling accomplice, had bled out from his wound while he waited for help. He'd bled to death while he waited for_ Lisbon_ and Jane had seen the whole thing.

Lisbon was sure that he had imagined the things Red John had done to his family before, it explained his insomnia, but now he knew he'd seen and heard what the killer did to his victims first hand, now he knew exactly how much they had suffered. The thought enraged Lisbon, which strangely was a good thing, it helped her not think about the fact that Jane had been at Red John's mercy. That it could have just as easily been Jane's blood used to draw the killer's trademark smiley face on the wall, Jane lying cold and broken on the ground. Instead he'd been unharmed, with the exception of the deadened look in his eyes. The anger had helped her get through the drive back to head quarters without breaking down and once they got there she'd even been able to hold off for a while before questioning Jane on what The Killer had done and said. She knew his confrontation with Red John had left him more shaken than he'd ever admit, because when he'd answered "he didn't say anything," she'd been able to tell he was lying. Her anger at his lies had been added to her anger at the rest of the sorry situation and it had sustained her through the three weeks that followed, going through files, questioning and re questioning people and going through Kristina Frye's life with a fine tooth comb in the hope of finding a clue to her location. Eventually though the trail grew cold, the manic look in Jane's eye faded and everyone conceded that they weren't going to find anything new.

Things went back to normal, well as normal as they got in their line of work, and since it seemed like all the other criminals had decided to take a break Lisbon was able to go home to get some rest for the first time in what felt like forever. Except now that there was no case to occupy her mind she found that all those thoughts that she had been pushing to the back came rushing forward. She had time imagine all the things Red John could have done to Jane which was when the nightmares started. She would dream of Jane strapped down and helpless while a grotesque figure cut and tortured him. She would dream of finding him just as the light started to leave his eyes. Even worse were the dreams where she didn't get there in time, where he was dead when they got there and she never got to talk to him, to tell him to hold on, to not leave her. Tell him how much he meant to her. She would wake from her thrashing, sweat drying on her skin a scream tearing itself from her throat and be unable to get back to sleep.

What was worse, it wasn't the nightmare images of Jane dead that kept her awake, it was the feeling of desolation that swept through her afterwards, the feeling that if he was gone Lisbon didn't want to go on either. She didn't have a problem acknowledging her physical attraction to Jane, he was good looking and charming even though he was a little too pretty for her taste (she preferred a larger more rugged body type, like Rigsby) No, admitting an attraction, well to herself anyway, wasn't the problem. The problem was the other feelings. Feeling she'd sworn to never have again, that she'd felt only twice before, once when she'd lost her mother to a drunk driver and when she'd lost her father to grief and his own hands.

Lisbon's feeling of loss when her mother died was easy to understand, she was her mother, the person who cared for her and comforted her, who told her she would love her forever no matter what. So the feeling of wanting to just disappear when she lost all that, well who wouldn't? But she had her brothers and at the time her father. Her brothers had needed her to judge who had jumped the highest and to kiss their scrapes all better. Her father had been there to hug her and tell her it would be okay, she'd believed him, at first anyway.

The loss of her father was a little more complicated. While it was true that by the end he had been a drunk, a terrible father and some would say a terrible person there was a time when Lisbon remembered being so sure she had the best father in the world. When she was a child he would come through the door after work shouting "I'm Home!" giving her mother a loud kiss on the cheek, then he'd sweep Teresa or Tess as she'd been then, up in a big hug telling her he'd missed her and asking what his "little princess" had done that day. And he had actually listened as she'd and her brothers told him about their day, laughing at their childish adventures and ahhhing over they're messy art projects. It had all ended after her twelfth birthday, after a drunk driver killed her mother, a drunk driver that was never caught. At first her father was obsessed with the case, calling the detective investigating it once a week for updates, after a few weeks of calling and getting nothing he'd started drinking after every weekly check in. After a few months he'd stopped waiting for the check ins to drink, a few months after that he'd stopped checking in, but the drinking had continued. By her thirteenth birthday he was a completely different man, his kids no longer running to the door to meet him when he came home, but rather running and hiding from him when they heard him stumbling up the stairs. It was shortly after her 16th birthday that he'd taken the old revolver they had kept around for _security purposes _put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger, all while Teresa watched and her three younger brothers huddled in the back yard, curled up together whimpering in their old dog's house, where she had hidden them. After what he'd done to them she hadn't expected to feel anything put relief at his death, instead she'd felt an overwhelming grief. She hadn't remembered the beatings and the yelling, instead she'd remembered the ice skating lessons, baseball games and riding high on his shoulders at a carnival. She'd collapsed on the floor sobbing and crawled over to her father's body. Knowing there was nothing she could do she still hadn't been able to stop herself from gently shaking his arm and asking, begging "daddy?" The only response she had gotten was the gun falling from his limp grasp; she'd looked at it and wondered "should I use it on myself?", "It hurts so badly and I'm so tired." "Surly God, the kindly God her mother had spoken of and believed in would understand, maybe she'd even get to be with her parents again?" Before she could pick it up though she'd heard faint cries from the back yard, "the boy's" she thought and she couldn't do it, she wouldn't abandon them like their father had done. She would stay and care for them like he should have done, like the man he used to be would have done.

She had sworn to herself then as she'd pulled herself up from the floor and wiped away her tears that it would never happen again, she would never allow herself to become so emotionally dependant on another person again. The thought had only been reinforced as shed gone out back to take charge of the boys telling the oldest to be brave for the other two, wiping the tears of her middle brother and telling him "everything gonna be okay", she'd picked up Tommy the youngest at 6 like an infant and with the other two following had walked to the neighbors to call the police. From that day on she'd decided to depend only on herself. She couldn't trust people with her welfare with her love, they would only end up leaving or disappointing her and she wasn't sure she'd be able to pull herself back from that edge a third time. And all these years she'd stuck to her vow, oh she'd come close a few times, most noticeably with Bosco. He was a good man, a good cop and he had reminded her of her father, _before_. But he was married, then _that thing_ with the suspect had happened and she'd been reminded of why it couldn't happen, "_they'll just disappoint you._"She'd still cared for him but not like he'd wanted her to and definitely not as much as he'd loved her.So she'd concentrated on her career, eventually leaving SFPD for the CBI and in all those years becoming too attached had never been a problem. Until now, until Patrick Jane. Jane's abduction had forced her to acknowledge how much she cared about him, how seeing him every morning made her day better. She'd told him that she kept him around because he helped them catch the bad guys and most days that was enough, what she hadn't told him was that on the days when just catching them wasn't enough, when the cases were so bloody and awful that no amount of justice would suffice, it was him that made it worthwhile. Him brining her a cup of coffee or a chocolate bar he'd stolen from Rigsby's stash or just asking her if she was okay. She always answered "I'm fine" and though she wasn't his asking made it a little_ better_. The concerned smile and his hand on the small of her back brought her a little bit further back from the edge.

If she were honest with herself she'd have admitted it a long time ago, she guessed. She put up with more from him than she'd ever put up with from anyone else, his schemes, evasions and his outright lies. She should have washed her hands of him long ago, instead she rescued him on more than one occasion when said schemes went wrong and then taken the heat form the higher ups for him. Hell, she'd even black mailed Sam Bosco for him, one of her oldest friends a man she'd respected and she been willing to lose that for Jane. Lisbon told herself it was loyalty, it was her team and Jane was a member of it so she would do whatever she thought was necessary to protect him, just like she would for Cho, Rigsby and VanPelt. "She'd been a surrogate mother to her brothers from the age of 12, her brothers didn't need her anymore but the instinct to protect was still there so it was natural for her to transfer that urge to her team and therefore Patrick Jane, right?" She'd had an inkling there was more to it when Hightower had shown up and basically threatened her job. Lisbon had never before allowed anything to interfere with her job before, not her personal issues, her love life not even her family. It was, she felt, her most selfish act. She had sacrificed her childhood and many of her dreams to care for her brothers, she didn't resent that, not really, she loved them and hadn't trusted anyone else to watch out for them. Once they had grown and she felt like she had done as much as she could for them she had decided it was time for her to see to her own future.

When she'd thought about what she wanted to do for the rest of her life the first thing that had popped into her head was the memory of the officer that had show up at the front door to inform them of her mother's death. He had stood at the door saying something softly to her father the gun holstered to his hip and shiny gold badge on his chest had intimidated young Tess, but it was the kind, sympathetic look in his eye and the gentle hand he had rested on Bill Lisbon's shoulder when the older man started sobbing that had impressed her. Officer Ellis, she would never forget him. He had provided an escorted for them when her father had insisted on immediately going to identify the body; briefly flashing his lights and sirens for her brothers. When they arrived at the station he and a few of the other officers had entertained the two older boys Jacob and David, showing them their badges and cuffs, even showing the boys where they took the mug shots, while their father had gone down to the morgue in the basement. Tess had stood in a corner of the bull pen; bouncing the 2 year old Tommy on her hip and watching the organized chaos around her. Her next experience with law enforcement was when her father had killed himself. The officers and detectives than had been thorough and professional in their investigation of the suicide. But they had also shown gentleness and compassion to the obviously traumatized children.

So when Lisbon asked herself what she wanted to do with her life it didn't take her long to decide. She was going to be a cop, she would protect people and catch the bad guys. Once she'd decided she set all her force of will on her goal, nothing and no one would get in her way. Her hard work and determination that nothing would interfere with her plans paid off and she succeeded. Now because of Jane she might lose what she'd worked so hard for. Lisbon had briefly asked herself "why am I doing this?" "Why am I staying if they don't appreciate what I do?" "I should find a job in another unit or another agency before my reputation is completely ruined." But she hadn't been able to do it. She told herself that it was her damn stubbornness and loyalty that wouldn't let her do it, that she didn't trust anyone else to protect her team.

She was good at denying her feelings, burying them and ignoring them. But Jane's brush with death and Red John had forced her to confront the truth, it wasn't stubbornness or that they caught bad guys that kept her there it was Patrick Jane and what she felt for him. She realized this weekend that protecting Jane was more important to her than the most important thing in her life, her job. Now she just had to figure out what to do about it.

**Wow that was way longer than I planned on it being. I'm not thrilled with it but I've redone so many times that I figured I better post it before it gets any if the story is going slowly but since the whole premise of the is a little out of character I'm trying to use their thoughts and inner monologue to make it seem a little more natural and believable. And sorry about my terrible grammar and my problem with tenses. This is unbeta'd so it's all on me.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry it took me so long to post this, my kids and life kept interfering but mostly my kids.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Mentalist but I wish I did.**

**The Drive In**

Patrick Jane liked to think of himself as an observant fellow, it was after all his job, what the fine State of California paid him to do. So it irked him to have to spend his commute wondering how the hell _it_ had happened. This was valuable time he could be spending thinking up tricks to wow the gullible Van Pelt or ways to win money off Rigsby. He tried to think back to the last couple of weeks, had he done anything different? Had anything unusual to eat or drink? "Maybe it was that new blend of Oolong that I bought at Whole Foods?" he wondered. "Nah, that's silly."

It had been a typical weekend. The last few weeks had been slow; criminals having apparently decided that it was too hot to commit any crimes. "Well, any serious crimes anyway" Jane thought facetiously. Which seeing as they were the Serious Crimes Unit kind of left them at loose ends. Lisbon had even dismissed them early on Friday since they were off this weekend and it was so slow. "Ah there it is again," Jane thought, "I've completed my little thought circle and I'm back where I started or with whom I started I guess, Teresa Lisbon." Not that he was having any problems with Lisbon which he supposed was concerning in and of its self. No she had been positively benign lately. He tried to think back to the last few weeks, had Lisbon's passivity started before or after their last case. Their last case, a Red John case, thinking of the killer was enough to distract Jane's mind from his boss, but only for an instant. Which he would have found interesting if he had stopped to consider it, but his brain having completed another of the little thought circuits it had been running lately had arrived at its chosen destination of Teresa Lisbon again and was not budging.

Jane mentally reviewed Friday's mostly boring events. He had as usual spent the day lying on his couch, napping or just staring at Elvis the ceiling stain. Cho had finished rereading Orwell's 1984 and was trying to decide what to start on next. Jane's suggestion of the latest Twilight novel had earned him a snort and a "he's probably already read it and bought the poster" From Rigsby. The aforementioned Rigsby was keeping busy IMing his new flavor of the week, Krissy with a K, Jane thinks her name is, in between trips to the kitchen to try wipe out the fridge's population of snack sized yogurts. As usual Lisbon and Van Pelt were being annoyingly dedicated, doing their paperwork, but even they seemed to be running out of things to work on. Thinking of their fearless leader had made Jane look through the open blinds into her office where Lisbon had been closeted all day filling out forms. "Probably using this brief respite to catch up on all the complaints about me" he thought with a smirk. She was currently sitting lost in thought, a pen in hand. She was twirling a lock of her hair in her left hand; it made Jane smile slightly to see his normally tough boss display such a girlish habit. "It's gotten a lot longer" he noted absently, "It looks good on her." As Jane watched Teresa took the dark silky lock in her fingers, absently brushing it back and forth across her bottom lip. Jane continued to watch the progress of the errant lock of hair as it continued it's back and forth motion across Lisbon's mouth only this time it took a detour down her chin to caress her neck and ended in the same back and forth motion this time across her uncharacteristically uncovered chest. As a concession to the hot weather Lisbon had taken off her jacket as soon as she'd walked in this morning, she'd followed with rolling up the sleeves and unbuttoning the top four buttons of her grey dress shirt, leaving her creamy skin and the top of her white tank top exposed. He watched as she closed her eyes and sighed, he wondered if she was imagining it was a lover's touch. "His mind was suddenly filled with images of his hands and mouth following the same path as the little mahogany curl." "Only I wouldn't stop at her chest," "wait what? Where did that come from?" Jane had abruptly looked away, clearing his throat and adjusting his position on the couch, hoping no one had noticed what he'd been staring at the last several minutes.

He could truthfully say that it was the first time he had thought of Teresa Lisbon sexually and it had worried him. He knew in an abstract way that she was attractive, fellow CBI agents, other cop's and even suspects mentioned it often enough. It had even occasionally occurred to him, even though she wasn't his type (he preferred his women on more statuesque lines) that she had some beautiful features, her hair, darker than his wife's honey brown but just as soft looking, ivory skin that looked even creamier when he managed to bring a light pink blush to it and most of all her jade green eyes. He also knew she was more than just a colleague and if pushed would probably admit to being fond of her. He had proven that when he'd killed for her, sacrificing not just Hardy's life for hers but any information Red John's accomplice might have given him about the killer. Afterwards he'd had to admit to himself that there were some people he probably wasn't willing to sacrifice to catch Red John, Lisbon was one of those people and the rest of the Serious Crimes team, maybe, but especially Lisbon. He consoled himself by thinking it was a purely platonic affection, fraternal even, though he didn't, as far as he knew (he wouldn't be surprised if his father had littered the Midwest with more than just victim's of his con's), have any siblings.

That explanation had temporarily satisfied his inner monologue. When Red John had used Rebecca to take out Bosco's team he'd felt justified in his concern for her and his deathbed promises to the man had only cemented his determination to look out for her. After all even Bosco, who Jane was pretty sure hated him, had thought Lisbon needed someone to care for her, and that Jane was the best person to do it. By the time of their trust fall and his promise to her to always save her, he'd been willing to admit, though only to himself, that he might even, sort of, almost, love her, maybe, a little, well as close to love as someone as selfish and damaged as he could get. He loved her, you know like a _sister,_ and he was determined not to fail her like he had his family. The sibling defense as he liked to call it had only worked for a while and when the first dirty thought had reared their ugly heads that Friday he wondered if maybe he had to rethink this whole Lisbon's like a sister thing. Because even Jane with his disregard for social conventions knew wondering what your sister looks like naked was a no-no and well he couldn't help but think "_she's not really my sister._" The whole thing had bothered and confused him so much that it had driven him from the CBI building early on Friday.

When his wife was murdered he'd sworn to himself that he would never feel for any other woman what he'd felt for her. He would never feel that combination of wanting and love for anyone else ever again. He'd tried not to get attached to anyone but humans are after all social creatures, he'd eventually begun to feel fondness for the people and yes the women around him. Lisbon was after all _Lisbon_ loyal, selfless and Van Pelt she was adorably naïve and affectionate, like a new born kitten. And yes he occasionally felt lust he was, after all, a reasonably young, straight man, it was biology. But he'd sworn never to combine the two; he'd never have what he'd had with his wife again. He'd never try to replace his lost family with another and certainly never think about it before he caught and killed the man responsible for their deaths. It hadn't been a problem all these years even with Kristina Frye, his first date since his wife's murder, sure she intrigued him and she was physically appealing but they were too much alike for him to ever fall in love with her. Lisbon was a whole other story she'd slowly wound herself around his heart through the years and he hadn't worried too much because after all she wasn't his type, she wasn't anything like his wife. His body's reaction to her soft sigh on Friday told him it didn't care if his consciousness had caught up with it. He'd hoped that at weekend spent at his house with the Red John files and way from the source of his confusion (Lisbon) would put things back in prospective. So he'd skipped his usual Friday routine of lingering either on his couch or if he got bored on Lisbon's, making small talk and waiting until she decided she'd accomplished enough for the day. He would then jump up and inform her that he would walk her to her car, which usually made Lisbon smirk and ask sarcastically "who's the one with the gun?" He'd let her grumble when he held open the office door and pushed the elevator button for her. Resting his hand at the small of her back and gesturing with his left for her to precede him, he would just stand there, holding the elevator door, 1000 watt smile in place until she relented and went ahead of him. She may roll her eyes at him but he knows that she secretly likes his chivalry.

This Friday however he'd jumped up as soon as she'd informed the team they could go home early, saying "I have some errands I need to take care of so I guess I'll see you on Monday." She'd given him a penetrating look and for the first time in a long time it was Patrick Jane trying not to squirm at the thought of someone else being able to read his mind. "She's probably just concerned I'm going home to pore over the Red John file again." Which he totally was but only because he was trying to stop himself from wondering if she tasted as delicious as she smelled. "Stop that!" "What's wrong with you?" He lectured himself. "Okay," She said, the little crease between her eyes giving away her concern, "see you Monday, have a good weekend." He gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile and strolled to the elevator. "Maybe he would stop at his favorite café before heading home; he had a sudden craving for something sweet." "Hmmmm, something with vanilla and…. cinnamon?", "A chai maybe?"

So he'd spent the weekend at his house in Malibu, pouring over his notes on the serial killer known as Red John. Occasionally sleeping on the thin mattress on the floor in what used to be his and his wife's bed room, small leather bound book of Blake's poems in his hands. This time however neither the verse recited to him as a clue by the killer nor the macabre reminder of what he'd lost painted on the wall in his wife and child's blood was enough to refocus his thoughts. And in what he saw as the ultimate betrayal instead of the dreams of his family, happy and smiling in life or bloody and cold in death that usually greeted his sleep, he dreamt of sweetly scented skin and green eyes gone soft and vague with pleasure. He'd woken gasping her name and embarrassingly sticky.

He'd taken his time showering and getting ready. Trying to rationalize the dream away, he had been celibate since his wife's death, close to 7 years, that was a long time. Besides he had found women attractive since then, the beautiful murderous widow, the call girl from the bar, Kristina but he had to admit it had never been like this. They hadn't invaded his thoughts at all hours and certainly not his dreams, especially not that kind of dream, he hadn't had one of those since he'd been a hormonal teenager. By the time he was ready and climbing into his little blue Citroen he'd given up trying to rationalize and moved on to trying to find a solution to his little "well not really little more like above average too impressively sized" problem.

As he pulled into the CBI parking lot he had to admit that he was no closer to a solution so he would do the same thing he did when he came upon a rule or regulation he didn't care for. He would ignore it. Everything would be just fine and eventually it would just go away, like it had never happened. After all he was Patrick Jane and as good as he was at lying to other people he was even better at lying to himself.

**Hope you enjoyed it. I'm going to try to post the next chapter this week. It will get into the actual case part of the fic. Reviews would be awesome. }:P**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey there. Sorry this is late I meant to have it posted by Thursday but it didn't happen. I know I said this chapter would have case fic in it but not being from California I want to do little more research about the area before I start writing on it. Many thanks to Fountainous Quill for her reviews and especially Jisbon 4ever who reviewed every chapter.**

**The Mentalist = Not mine**

**Coffee, Tea or Me?**

Lisbon picked up her coffee mug and looking into the dreg filled bottom gave a huff of frustration. This was her second refill of the morning and it was barely 9 am, it should have lasted her at least another hour. She weighed the pros and cons of sitting in her office coffee less versus potentially running into Jane if she got up for another refill_. "Well if I sit here for much longer with nothing to do and no coffee to drink I might end up chucking my stapler out the window but if I run into Jane in the kitchen while he's making his tea he'll probably make some comment about my looking a little haggard and proceed to tell me what I spent the weekend doing." "Ugh, well I'll have to face him eventually." "I can't avoid him forever or everyone will figure something is wrong." "Not that there is anything wrong, I mean you just figured out your falling in love with your borderline unstable, emotionally unavailable consultant." "Other than that though everything's peachy!" "What's your problem Teresa, you have something against making things easy for yourself?" "Why can't you just fall for a nice, normal, available guy?" "But no, if you did that there wouldn't be any obstacles to a relationship so you pick the broken ones or the married ones to fall for." _Decision made she grabbed her mug and giving herself one last pep talk_, "come on Teresa you're a big girl, this isn't the first time you haven't gotten your happily ever after, just suck it up and move on," _she stood and walked purposefully out of her office and towards the kitchen. She may not look her best but it was nothing she couldn't blame on a sleepless night, she was confident that no one, not even Patrick Jane could figure out the thoughts that kept her awake and had caused the slightly purple smudges under her eyes.

Jane took a deep breath, inhaling the fragrant steam coming off the perfectly prepared cup of Assam. "_So far so good_," he thought. He'd been at work for all of 15 minutes and he hadn't seen hide or hair of Lisbon. He'd walked in this morning said hello to Grace who was already busy with work, although what she could be working on was a mystery to Jane seeing as they hadn't had a case in weeks. Setting his new Sudoku book on the battered leather couch, he'd shrugged out of his suit jacket and strolled over to the kitchen for his morning tea ritual. "_Yes, it looks like it's going to be a perfectly normal, boring Monday morning." "Well at least for everyone else." "I'm fairly sure no else on the Serious Crimes Unit woke up this morning and realized they were falling in lust with their boss." "Which isn't surprising since Rigsby's still in love with VanPelt, Cho is thinking about asking Elise to move in with him and VanPelt… well maybe VanPelt?" _Jane almost snorted out loud at the thought of the straight arrow VanPelt harboring same sex tendencies. _"Well a man can dream right?"_

"_Ah, what does a person have to do to get a nice ennui breaking murder, besides commit it himself?" "Is it selfish and morbid of me to want someone to die just to keep my mind off my person problems?" "Yes." "Do I care?" "No." "Not if it was a bad person who totally deserved to go." "But really, it would be much easier not to think about my problems if I had an interesting case to think about." "Although the fact that I'm trying not to think about it means I'm thinking about it, right?" "Wait, huh?" _

Jane shook his head at his slightly convoluted thoughts and turning to walk back to the bullpen almost groaned out loud at the sight that greeted his eyes. There stood Teresa Lisbon, hair curling around her shoulders, black jeans molded to her no doubt fit and taught thighs and the usual sensible loafers on her feet. Nothing unusual there, what drew his attention was her top half. If asked before Jane would have said Lisbon's color was dark green to match her eyes and play up the paleness of her skin, but that was before he'd seen her in dark plum purple. The snug, ¾ sleeved sweater was very thin and almost sheer. The lace edge of the black tank top she'd worn under it to preserve her modesty peeked over the top of the v neck and the color accented the creamy undertone of her skin. Gathering his wits and trying to keep from gaping at the little bit of cotton and lace that was supposed to cover her chest and instead succeeded in drawing attention to it. _"_Morning Lisbon_!_" he chirped brightly to cover his momentary lapse, "Is that a new outfit? It's very becoming."

Lisbon just rolled her eyes at his excessive cheerfulness saying "Ugh, its way too early for you to start Jane." "Can't you just go away until I have my second cup of coffee?" "And no it's not new."

"Liar." "That's at least your third, no.. fourth cup of coffee Lisbon" "You know if you'd spent the weekend relaxing instead of cleaning your apartment and working on cold case files you wouldn't be so grumpy and you might not have those dark smudges under your eyes." "Finally got those boxes unpacked from when you moved in, huh?" "Is that where you found that delightful top?" "It only took what two years to finish?" The only response he got was a glare and a "Bite me Jane," before Lisbon grabbed her newly filled mug and marched right back to her office, she just managed to restrain herself from slamming the door and instead closed it with a firm, resounding click. Jane grinned to himself, he just found out that bantering with his boss was not only entertaining but it took his mind off of other baser thought about her. He walked over to his couch and plopped himself down for a well deserved nap. "_Jane_," (he'd been hearing it for so long he'd even started to refer to himself that way) he thought to himself "_you're a master manipulator of emotions, yours and everyone else's." "Everythings going to be just fine." _Smiling slightly he settled down comfortably, hopefully they would get a case before he ran out of things to think up to torment Lisbon, or she got fed up and shot him.

It was an hour later the two remaining members of the team Rigsby and Cho had arrived and everyone ( excepting Jane of course) was being, somewhat productive when Lisbon walked out of her office to announce "We've got a body." Seeing her team jump up with a little more enthusiasm than the situation called for, made Lisbon smiled slightly. "Go home, pack your warm socks, we're headed to Mt. Shasta." "Apparently you made an impression on the local sheriff last time we were there Jane because he specifically requested our team."

"Really," Jane said, getting up and gathering his stuff like the other three agents in the bullpen, a curious look in his slightly sleepy eyes.

"Wait, Sheriff Jones, didn't that guy try to punch you in the face last time we saw him, Jane?" asked Rigsby.

"Yeah he did," Lisbon laughingly replied, "but apparently all is forgiven." "He said you might find this one interesting, Jane, something about a body, a pit and some snakes?"

"Sounds like something out of a story by Poe," said Cho.

"Uhhh… did you say snakes boss," asked Rigsby nervously.

"Is there a problem Rigsby?" /Jane/

"Big guy's afraid of snakes," replied Cho, trying to keep a straight face.

"Am not!" retorted Wayne.

"Children!" "I'll see you back here in an hour!" Lisbon yelled, watching as the group of four walk onto the elevator, the two men still jeering at the big agent. She shook her head as she walked back into her office, she had a great group of people but sometimes she couldn't help but feel like she was a kindergarten teacher and not the head of a an elite crime fighting unit. Lisbon sat and giving a small sigh relaxed for the first time all morning. She had an hour until they came back and since she always kept an overnight bag in the office she had nothing to do but enjoy the peace and quiet until Jane and the team (but mostly Jane) came back to distract her.

**Thanks for reading, hope you like it so far. If you do review and let me know, if you don't review anyway and tell me what you hate about it. **

**Chapter 6 preview: **

"_Sheriff Jones, good to see you again." "What have you got?" _

"_Agent Lisbon, Mr. Jane, pleasure to see you, wish it was under better circumstances." "Well it's just what it looks like." "Male DB (dead body), naked, in a hole about 15 ft deep by 10 ft wide, looks to be between 18 to 30 years old."_

"_Are those..?" _

"_Snakes?" Said Sheriff Jones brightly, "yes sir, Agent Rigsby, I'd say 150 maybe 200 of them_."


	6. Chapter 6

**Made this a little longer to make up for how long it took me to post it. Thanks to those who review. Jisbon4ever – Yeah a big guy like Risgby afraid of snakes = LOL. I figured it was the kind of fear a big but sweet guy like Rigsby would have and be embarrassed about.**

**Like I said before The Mentalist and its characters aren't mine, I'm just borrowing them. Except for the ones I made up for this story (Sherriff Jones, Dr. Martin any others I think up along the way) I totally own them but I might be willing to sell them for three easy payment of $19.99**

**Snakes and Ladders**

Lisbon picked her way carefully through the uneven terrain, trying to avoid rabbit holes and the occasional tree root that tried to trip her up. Jane trekked behind her, his hand hovering near her elbow just in case she did take a tumble, while he simultaneously tried to keep any mud from getting on his shoes or suit. The rest of the team had already spread out, talking briefly with the various deputies and park rangers that littered the scene. They made their way over to the bearded, slightly portly man Jane recognized as Sheriff Jones and the large cordoned off hole in the ground he stood next to.

Lisbon was the first to reach him and giving him a brief handshake got down to business. "Sheriff Jones, good to see you again." "What have you got?"

The sheriff answered Lisbon's brief salute with a bright, charming smile and gave a nod of his head in Jane's direction. "Agent Lisbon, Mr. Jane, pleasure to see you, wish it was under better circumstances." "Well it's just what it looks like." "Male DB (dead body), naked, in a hole about 15 ft deep by 10 ft wide, looks to be between 18 to 30 years old."

Rigsby finished up with one of the deputies and had ambled his way over to the edge of the pit. He gave a brief look down and blanched slightly. "Are those..?"

"Snakes?" Said Sheriff Jones carelessly, "yes sir, Agent Rigsby, I'd say 150 maybe 200 of them."

"Is that all the M.E. (medical examiner or coroner depending on where you live) has so far?" Lisbon asked, a frown of impatience forming on her face. "Why hasn't the body been pulled out of the hole yet?"

"Well you see," drawled the Sherriff, "our medical examiner feels the same way about snakes that your Agent Rigsby there does." "'Bout had a nervous breakdown when he saw all those snakes in the bottom of that pit, refused to go down there." "But don't fret Agent Lisbon, I've been sitting by this hole ever since I got the call, making sure no one tampers with your evidence."

"Excuse me Sherriff," interrupted Rigsby "but why did you call us sir?" "Without COD (cause of death) are we even sure this is a murder?" "And if it is wouldn't it fall under the Park Ranger Services jurisdiction, since it's in the state park?"

"Well there's some dispute about that." "You see some of this land is owned by private foundations, which the local Sherriff (that would be me) has jurisdiction over, but is opened up for public use." "That hole right there is smack in the middle of the line that divides Mount Shasta Parkland from land owned privately by The Meadowlark Foundation." "When I remembered what a bang up job your unit did on the last case we worked on I figured calling you guys would be a good compromise with the Rangers Service." "That way I can avoid a messy jurisdictional fight." "As to whether it's a murder if it's not how did he get here?" "If he drove where's his car and more important his clothes?" "The nearest building is a few miles away and I can tell you he didn't hike through the woods naked, in the dark and not get a speck of mud on him from what I can see."

By the end of the Sherriff's explanation there little group had been joined by the other two team members and Lisbon, giving Rigsby a hard look for trying to weasel out of the case said, "Were happy to take over Sherriff but we won't be able to do much for you if we don't find out more about that body and get a look in that hole."

"Well as for the hole, Agent Lisbon, it's perfectly safe for you to jump right in now." "Those are all non venomous snakes." "Mostly garter snakes although I saw some gopher snakes and racers." "But there's no need for you to go to the trouble, Andrew Martin, one of the local boys, is a doctor, comes down to go hiking and camping this time of year, knows the area and the local wildlife." "Andy was flying in this morning; I already sent one of my boys to pick him up." "He should be arriving shortly." "He knows the drill; he'll get the body up out of the ground for you and hand it over to the M.E., all without disturbing any of your evidence." "I already took a statement from the couple that found them but I imagine you and Mr. Jane are 'gonna want to question them yourselves?" Sherriff Jones asked, looking at Lisbon expectantly.

"Well, if I didn't know any better I'd say you were trying to make a good impression on our Agent Lisbon," Jane interrupted giving The Sherriff a slightly mocking smile and winking in Lisbon direction.

Lisbon opened her mouth but was stalled in giving Jane a crushing set down by Jones, _" which is just as well,"_ she thought "_since that smile and wink had robbed her of any coherent thought, damn him for being so handsome_.""Don't you worry Mr. Jane," quipped the Sherriff, "your Agent Lisbon's safe from me." "I just remember from last time how thorough and un excepting of any shenanigans she is, well except for yours that is." "If I hadn't seen for myself last time how effective you are I would wonder why she puts up with you." "But whatever gets the bad guy and to tell you the truth there's some thing about this one that don't sit right with me." "The sooner we get this solved the happier I'll be."

Lisbon had initially rolled her eyes at their antics but by the end of the Sherriff's speech she was nodding her head in agreement, a serious look on her face. "Thanks Sherriff, we'll do that now." "Cho, finish gathering statements from the local leo's and have a look around the scene." Sherriff Jones, this is Grace VanPelt she's our resident technology and research expert, is there room for her to set up a base of operations in your station and would it be possible for her to get a ride there from one of your men?" "We only brought the SUV, the van would never have made it up these roads so we only have the one vehicle," She explained, then before the consultant could protest added, "Well Jane brought his clown car but we had to leave at the bottom of the trail 'cause it couldn't make it up these roads and only holds two people anyway."

Catching sight of the red head that'd blushed prettily at the compliment from her boss, the older man straightened his shoulders and gave her his most charming smile. "Well we meet at last Agent VanPelt and can I say it's a shame you got left behind at the CBI on the last case, I would have liked to have had the pleasure sooner."

"Yes, I heard you guys had an interesting time," said VanPelt with a smile and a sly look in Jane's direction.

The Sherriff chuckled, probably at the memory of taking a swing at Jane "Yes well, some of us had a more _interesting_ time than others." "I'll tell you what, why don't I tell you all about it in the ride back to the station." "If that's okay with you Agent Lisbon?"

Lisbon standing by trying not to smirk at the older man's flirting was about to give a nod of agreement when she was interrupted by Jane once again. "Actually is you don't mind Lisbon, I would like to take a look around, I'm sure those poor kids had nothing to do with this."

"What, you can tell someone's innocent by the way they stand now?" Lisbon asked sarcastically. As soon as he opened his mouth to reply she raised her hand, forestalling Jane's no doubt convoluted explanation as to why he knew the couple he hadn't talked to or even met was innocent. "Never mind." "Fine, but try not to get punched in the face." "Cho you're with me." "Rigsby," Lisbon started but seeing the slightly desperate look on the big agents face, whether it was because of the snakes or the prospect of VanPelt riding in a car with the frisky Sherriff, "Help Van Pelt set up then go get us rooms, I don't think we're going to solve this in one night." She shook her head as with a look of relief Rigsby hurried after VanPelt. Lisbon turned and looked at Jane waiting for him to make some comment about what a softie she was, _"I'll never admit it to him but I did feel bad about the small spark of jealousy I felt at their happiness and I felt even guiltier when they had to break up," _but all he said as he watched the group of three walk away was "That flirtatious old goat hasn't changed a bit."

Lisbon gave a small sigh of relief as she watched her consultant walk away. She'd been glad to have a case to occupy their time but she'd been worried about having to spend time in close proximity with the man who was causing her such emotional confusion. Jane had said on more than one occasion that she was transparent to him which was why she'd been so desperate to avoid him. She had a horrible vision of walking into the bull pen one morning and having Jane leap up from his couch, point accusingly at her and yell at the top of his lungs "Aha! You're in love with me!" Which he could tell based on how she drank her coffee that day or something equally ridiculous. "_Come to think of it, he has seemed a little preoccupied and if I didn't know any better_ _I say Jane was trying to avoid me_." "_He even rode in his own car, even though I told him it would never make up these rutted roads." _She looked over to where the blond was standing, peering down into the snake infested hole. She frowned, a suspicious look on her face but settled for yelling "Stay out of trouble and if you fall in that hole we're leaving you there."

Lisbon looked over to where her second in command stood, expressionless. "_God bless Cho, I can always depend on him to keep his nose out of my life and his opinions to himself." _"Let's see what we can get while we wait for this Doc Martin to show up," She said walking briskly away towards their two witnesses.

Kimball Cho watched the petite brunette walk away, briefly glancing at the blond man still staring into the pit before he quickly followed her. People had a tendency to underestimate him because of his quiet expressionlessness and the fact that he often had his nose buried in a book but he saw more than they gave him credit for. Certainly more than the two he was quietly observing. "_I wonder if they've finally realized what I've know for a while." "Even if they have it would take a miracle for them to actually do anything about it." "I wonder how this is 'gonna turn out?" "Guess I'll just have to wait and see, good thing I'm patient."_

**Hey there, thanks for reading. Remember reviews make me happy.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey there. Sorry I've been posting a little slower, inspiration just wasn't coming to me on this story so I took the time to work on some of my others. This chapter is heavier on case fic than the others but it has some moments of Jane jealousy to make up for it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't The Mentalist or its characters I'm just using them for my own nefarious purposes. **

**Skinny Jeans and Doc Martins**

Jane wandered away from Lisbon and Cho, quietly muttering under his breath about "shameless old men who should know better." He wasn't sure what had come over him with the catty little comment about trying to impress Lisbon to Sherriff Jones. He remembered the last time they had worked with the Sherriff, how he'd eyed Lisbon up and down as soon a she'd walked up and introduced herself. Then he'd had the temerity to try talk down to her like she was some delicate little flower. Lisbon had been quick to disabuse him of the antiquated notion that just because she was a woman she needed to be protected or be told how to do her job. Jane grinned a little in remembrance of the tongue lashing she'd given the old man. It had been nice for Jane to watch and (for once) not be the recipient of one of Lisbon famous verbal beatings. From then on Sherriff Jones had show Lisbon the respect she deserved as the agent in charge but it hadn't stopped him from flirting shamelessly with her or at least trying to since Lisbon never responded to his overtures. Back then Jane had been amused by the flirting and the irritation it had caused Lisbon. Although he had been unable to stop himself from needling the Sherriff too, going so far as to tell him that if he didn't flirt with anything with breast's and if he spent half the time at home that he did at work maybe his wife wouldn't have cheated on him with his best friend. That friendly bit of advice was what had cause Jones to take a swing at him, it was a good thing that over his years of working with the CBI his reflexes had improved and truth be told the Sherriff had been standing in slippery mud, or Jane would have ended up with another bloody nose instead of the Sherriff ending up with a muddy behind.

Amusement wasn't exactly what he'd felt this time though, in fact if it where anyone else making a snide comment like that Jane would have said they were jealous but that was totally ridiculous because he was Patrick Jane and he didn't get jealous. Besides he knew he didn't need to worry about Lisbon being attracted to Jones, he wasn't her type not to mention he was too old and married. Jane was just lucky she had gotten distracted by the Sherriff before she could rip Jane a new one for the comment, as little as Lisbon appreciated being flirted with while she was trying to work a case she appreciated someone trying to defend her when she could defend herself even less. He totally blames his behavior on the way her behind had looked in those form fitting black jeans as she walked in front of him. _"Although come to think of it she didn't deny it when Sherriff Jones called her My Agent Lisbon. Hmmm ... interesting."_

He glanced around catching sight of Lisbon and Cho interviewing the kids that had found the body. He hadn't been lying when he'd said he could tell they were innocent at first sight and judging by the look of frustration Lisbon was trying to mask she'd come to the same conclusion. "_A couple of UC Berkeley sophomores out "roughing it" at a lodge for the weekend, go for a hike, get lost and stumble over a dead body. They weren't exactly been dressed for a hike (the girl in cut off jean shorts and ked's, the boy in too tight skinny jeans and a pair of hiking boots that looked brand new and probably had never been used for more than a bike ride to the local record store or a walk to the student union café) let alone a body dump." _You could also tell by their scared expressions that this was the first act of violence they'd come in close contact with. Jane briefly felt bad for their loss of innocence but judging by the fact that they'd only thought to bring a bottle of water each and few granola bars and had been wandering lost for hours before stumbling on the body and being subsequently found by the park ranger that had gone to see what the vultures were circling, they weren't exactly master woodsmen. They would have probably kept wandering around lost until they got hurt or worse. _"Besides they managed to hold on to their innocent and naiveté much longer that I or anyone I know did." _

As Jane watched Lisbon turned from the two kids her expression of irritation and frustration increasing. He chuckled to himself knowing it annoyed her to no end when he was right. He turned away trying to look busy, although there wasn't much he could deduce without getting a closer look at the body. They were in a bit of a clearing the nearest trees were about fifty feet away. The ground was muddy but any tire tracks or foot prints that the killer had left had been obliterate by the horde of sheriff's department and park ranger personnel that had been trampling all over the scene not to mention the assorted Jeeps and 4 wheel drive trucks they had driven up in. The body and the hole it was in gave him a little bit more information. It was a big hole about 15ft deep and 10ft squared so it had to have taken some time to dig, that meant that whoever had done this had planned it well in advance and that they knew this place well enough to know that not many people came here. Then there were the snakes, it got cold up here at night and snakes being cold blooded usually found a nice dry cave or piles of leaves to rest under at night not a barren muddy hole. "_So the hole had been made deep enough that he couldn't crawl out and the snakes had been put in on purpose. Why, to make a statement, inspire fear? Well if the killer had been trying to instill fear he'd succeeded with at least one person." _ The body, a young man Jane estimated to be about 24, was sitting in the corner of the hole. He was curled up knees pulled into his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His hands were clean with no dirt under the nails so he hadn't even tried to get out. "_Well judging by his eyes, frozen wide open even in death and the way he'd tried to make himself as small as possible in the corner he'd been to terrified to_."

Hearing someone come up behind him Jane turned in to see a young sheriff's deputy trudging up with a ladder which he carefully placed in the hole on the opposite side to the body. He turned and walked away again passing Lisbon and Cho as they walked up to stand next to Jane. He walked over to a large extended cab truck were a man stood pulling a white disposable biohazard suit over his clothing.

"Looks like this doctor is finally here." Said Lisbon, watching as the man in the white suit made his way over, a board that looked like the kind EMT's used to stabilize crash victim tucked under his arm. He was following the deputy who had a coil of rope over his shoulder, lugging a bag that more than likely contained evidence gathering equipment.

"Looks like," was the only response she got from Cho.

"So what did you get from the kids," Jane asked smirking at the scowl Lisbon tried to suppress.

"They got into town late last night and they talked to the front desk clerk as they were leaving the Lodge this morning so provided we can get collaboration from someone at the lodge and the times check out with whatever the M.E. says the time of death is they're in the clear." /Lisbon/

"I hate to say it, Lisbon but I .."

"Agent Lisbon?" The deputy interrupted before Jane could finish his I-told-you-so.

"Yes!" Lisbon answered, giving the deputy a bright smile _"man, am I tired of Jane being right_," she thought.

The young deputy froze blinking rapidly "_Sherriff Jones wasn't kidding when he said she was a pretty little thing,_" then blushing answered "Uh.. Hello ma'am, mrs. I mean Agent Lisbon. I'm Jimmy, well it's actually James. James Landon, I mean, I'm Deputy James Landon but you can call me Jimmy."

Jane clears his throat ostentatiously, thinking "_great, another one bites the dust. It's like she's a magnet for any guy in a one mile radius. How come I never really noticed before and more important why is it bothering me now?"_

Jane's musing was interrupted by Cho's monotone "Smooth."

Lisbon ignores them both giving the now even redder faced deputy a kindly smile (she remembers what it's like to be a rookie, wanting to prove yourself but terrified of screwing up) "Deputy Landon, this Agent Kimball Cho and our consultant Patrick Jane."

Deputy Landon tips his hat to them saying "It will be a pleasure to watch you guys work." And looking back at Lisbon adds "If there's anything I can do to help let me know." He turns and the man in the white suit steps forward as he's introduced. "This Andy Martin, uh Dr. Andrew Martin. I'm sure Sherriff Jones explained that he'll be retrieving the body for you."

Lisbon focused on the doctor for the first time and tried to keep from gaping. It was like someone had snuck into her fantasy's and made a list of everything she thought she was attracted to in a man, before she'd met Patrick Jane. He was just a bit over 6ft tall, it was hard to tell through the suit but he looked muscular built along lines like Rigsby. His hair was black; darker even than hers, his skin a golden brown his large hand making a nice contrast to petite fairness of hers as he held it out in greeting and his eyes, by far his best feature "_Well so far, it's hard to tell since I can't see the rest of him through that stupid suit_." were grey, like storm clouds or rainy seas.

"Nice to meet you, Agent Lisbon is it?" The doctor said smiling.

"_Oh my god! He has dimples_!" The voice in her head squealed like a tween at a Justin Beiber concert.

She squared her shoulders reminding the voice that she was an adult and should shut up and act like it she managed to make introductions without embarrassing herself.

Patrick Jane stood to the side looking around, to anyone watching him it would seem like he was bored but he was actually carefully observing and cataloging everything around him, while still keeping Lisbon in the corner of his sight. It was the best way to watch her, she didn't like it when he stared at her, and watching her, storing away every response she had so he could analyze and dissect them later was his favorite thing to do. Well second favorite, getting a reaction out of her whether it was amusement or irritation, watching her eyes light up with emotion that was his favorite. It was his experience with Teresa Lisbon's reactions that made him notice it right away. He'd seen it before (usually directed at him) the subtle straightening of her shoulders in order to call attention to her chest, the flick of her tongue over her lips and he was sure that if he'd been standing in front of her he would have seen her pupils dilated. She was attracted to the man in front of her.

He looked at the object of her attention, the doctor, great. And by the looks of him he was _exactly_ the kind of guy Lisbon was attracted to. None of his thoughts showed on his face as he smiled through the introductions. But in the back of his head the little voice (the one that kept telling him how good Lisbon would look laying naked across his leather couch and that it was okay 'cause she wasn't his sister) was saying _"You are so screwed_."

**Sorry this took so long to post. The idea well was running a little dry.**

**Read & Review please. It makes me smile.**


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